Natchez Trace: Difference between revisions

''[[United States Genealogy|United States ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[United States Migration Internal|Migration ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[US Migration Trails and Roads|Trails and Roads ]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]  [[Natchez_Trace|Natchez Trace]]''  

[[Image:{{NatchezT}}]][[Image:{{NatchezTMap}}]]The '''Natchez Trace''', "Old Natchez Trace" or "Chickasaw Trail" was a 450 mile (725 km) long trail connecting what were originally American Indian settlements on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_River Cumberland River] (Nashville, Tennessee) and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_River Tennessee River] ("Wawmanona" Indian site near Florence, Alabama) with settlements near the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River Mississippi River] (Natchez, Mississippi, Grand Villiage of the Natchez Indians). European colonists had used the old Indian trail since at least 1742. In 1796 a new section called the [[Maysville Turnpike]] extended the Natchez Trace 275 miles (440 km) from Nashville, Tennessee to Maysville, Kentucky where it connected with [[Zane's Trace|Zane's Trace]] which continued through Ohio to Wheeling, West Virginia. This made it possible to go overland from the east coast to the Mississippi River. After the trace was upgraded to a road in 1801, the same could be done in a wagon for the first time. The Trace declined in importance after 1816 when rival roads and steamboats grabbed much of its traffic.  

The "trace" was first created by animals like bison to reach [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lick salt licks] in the Nashville (French Lick) area, and their grazing areas near the Mississippi River. American Indians, developed the trace further for trading mostly, and also as a warpath. An unknown Frenchman was the first European to write about traveling the full Natchez Trace in 1742.<ref name="NatchTWiki">Wikipedia contributors, "Natchez Trace," ''Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchez_Trace (accessed 24 July 2010).</ref> But earlier Europeans such as Spanish explorer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_(explorer) Hernando de Soto] may have come across parts of the trace in 1540 while being guided by [[Choctaw Indians|Choctaw]] and [[Chickasaw Indians|Chickasaw]] Indians. The trace followed a natural ridge and, at first, was only a narrow footpath or horse trail unsuitable for wagons because of trees.  

'''''Original trace south to north:'''''<ref>William E. Myers, ''Indian Trails of the Southeast'' (Nashville, Tenn.: Blue and Gray Press, 1971), 77-81. ({{FHL|54678|item|disp=FHL Book 970.1 M992i}}) [http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1523234referer=brief_results WorldCat entry].</ref>  

*'''''Mississippi:&nbsp;''''' [[Adams County, Mississippi Genealogy|Adams]], [[Jefferson County, Mississippi Genealogy|Jefferson]], [[Claiborne County, Mississippi Genealogy|Claiborne]], [[Hinds County, Mississippi Genealogy|Hinds]], [[Madison County, Mississippi Genealogy|Madison]], [[Attala County, Mississippi Genealogy|Attala]], [[Choctaw County, Mississippi Genealogy|Choctaw]], [[Webster County, Mississippi Genealogy|Webster]], [[Chickasaw County, Mississippi Genealogy|Chickasaw]], [[Lee County, Mississippi Genealogy|Lee]], [[Itawamba County, Mississippi Genealogy|Itawamba]], [[Tishomingo County, Mississippi Genealogy|Tishomingo]]  

*'''''Alabama:&nbsp;''''' [[Colbert County, Alabama Genealogy|Colbert]], [[Lauderdale County, Alabama Genealogy|Lauderdale]]  

*'''''Tennessee:&nbsp;''''' [[Wayne County, Tennessee|Wayne]], [[Lewis County, Tennessee|Lewis]], [[Hickman County, Tennessee|Hickman]], [[Williamson County, Tennessee|Williamson]], [[Davidson County, Tennessee|Davidson]]

'''Overlapping and Connecting Routes:&nbsp;''' [[Jackson's Military Road]] followed the same path as the Trace from Nashville to Tupelo. [[Jackson's Military Road]] forked off south in Tupelo, [[Lee County, Mississippi]] headed for New Orleans. The north end of the Trace eventually linked to the [[Maysville Turnpike]] into Kentucky and beyond. The south end of the Natchez Trace starts in Natchez (a river port) on the Mississippi River, gateway to Baton Rouge, New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.  

There is no known list of settlers who travelled the Natchez Trace. However, some of the early residents of Tennessee ''may'' have used the Natchez Trace to reach their destination, as well as several other routes like the [[Great Valley Road|Great Valley Road]], [[Wilderness Road]], [[Kentucky Road]], [[Avery's Trace]], or [[Georgia Road]]. For early Tennessee settlers see:  

*East Tennessee Historical Society, ''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44435788 First families of Tennessee: a register of early settlers and their present-day descendants]'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, c2000) [{{FHL|976.8 H2ff}}].

*Many of the [[:Category:US Migration Trails and Roads|US Migration Trails and Roads]]  

*[http://scenictrace.com/images/ntcmag.pdf Natchez Trace Visitor Guide] (brochure) photos, maps, exhibits, and historical sites.  

*[http://library.thinkquest.org/6270/story_index.html The Story of the Natchez Trace] discusses Indians, longhunters, boatmen, robbers, the postal road, and the Parkway.

[[Category:Migration_Routes]] [[Category:US_Migration_Trails_and_Roads]] [[Category:Tennessee]] [[Category:Alabama]] [[Category:Mississippi]] [[Category:Kentucky]]